Midwinter; Matthew Sturges

Somehow this year I ended up with two books written by authors who are primarily visual storytellers. This novel was written by a DC Comics writer trying his hand at novel writing. The other being Alan Campbell's Scar Face, reviewed here. Oddly enough both novels feature floating cities! Midwinter was published by Pyr this past March in QP format. It was faced-out on a shelf in my local bookstore & the cover completely caught my attention. No, it wasn't the oh so phallic sword in the male elf's hand. For me the image is atmospheric I suppose: ruins, snow, an armed woman whose pose suggests strength yet vulnerability. So I read the first chapter & that was enough. I was hooked.

Mr. Sturges' version of Faerie has different worlds (of which the reader's reality is but one) stitched together similar in feel to Patricia McKillip's Solstice Wood. These worlds felt 'stitched together' partly as a function of their existence and partly due to their inhabitants' efforts. From the Faerie side at least, they are aware of each others' existence although Faeries are obviously superior! Titania and Mab each rule different Faerie kingdoms originating from a father's inability to refuse a son's request even knowing the consequences of acceding to the son's request.

Midwinter is a classic quest plot. Mauritaine, a loyal, formerly highly placed soldier in the Queen's military is imprisoned. Purane Es, his enemy, succeeded Mauritaine and arrives at the prison with orders to embark upon a top secret, deniable quest for his Queen. It goes without saying this is a nearly impossible quest for an unknown object. Mauritaine must build a little band of adventurers and bring this object back to Titania within strict time requirements. The reward? Depends on the person involved, but for Mauritaine means a pardon.


Who are the band members? Mauritaine is the leader, wrongly imprisoned due to political vengeance stemming from his rival Purane Es'overhwelming ambition and lack of morality. Members of Mauritaine's team include: Perrin Alt, imprisoned because of his mother's belief in the wrong faith; Brian Satterly, a human theoretical physicist caught in Faerie while looking for his niece; Raieve, an ambassador from the country of Avalon seeking help to keep her country unified; Honeywell (proper name: Geluna Eled) Mauritaine's loyal lieutenant who followed him into prison and Grey Mave, the prison guard who lost his job due to Mauritaine. Together this merry band of former prison misfits embarks on what could be either their last adventure while alive or the adventure that could lead to the biggest payoff of their lives.

I have to say that the object of the quest wasn't what I expected. I loved the curse the gypsy girl put on Perrin Alt & his subsequent actions. The storyline was standard quest fare and the characterization is a little flat, but to me Midwinter is surprisingly visual and unique enough that the twists kept me interested. I have to be honest and say that I'm unlikely to buy another one of these in QP size unless it's considerably fleshed out. There isn't cliffhanger at the end, but there is certainly potential for further storyline and character development in future novels. Mr. Sturges' blog implies that he is still working for DC Comics, and while I certainly hope that is so, I also hope he finds enough time to write more in this world.

Image found on B&N

The Magician's Guild; Trudi Canavan

I think I’m late getting on the Trudi Canavan bandwagon. If you’re not already aboard, you’re missing a great storyteller. The Magician’s Guild is the first novel in Ms. Canavan’s Black Magician’s Trilogy. The second book is The Novice and the third is The High Lord both of which are available. Her newest title is __________ out in hardcover, I believe. Just a minor little rant here. I borrowed this via interlibrary loan. After I read it I requested the other two titles. They could only find one. The third one. I mean, really? What use is reading only the first and the third book in a three book series? I ended up buying the second one, so now I own only one of the set. Annoying! Yes, I’m a little OCD about my books. Why do you ask?

Imardin is a socially stratified citystate, ruled by King Merin. Most of the citizenry are nonmagical folks of every class. Dwells are ordinary everyday folk, thieves control the underground (both literally & criminally) and crafters are skilled laborers. You have House and Rogue magicians, who, once they are identified, seem to be automatically elevated into the highest class. Only the aristocracy, known as aristos, can become magicians. They’re the crème de la crème. Then you have your vagrants, society’s dregs. Homeless, jobless, uneducated & without prospects, they live in dread of being caught in the annual purge. What’s that you ask? Why, it’s when the magicians drive as many of the vagrants out of the city as they can.

Sonea is a teenage vagrant and former street gang member whose family aspires to become crafters. Parted from her friends by her family’s financial needs, she comes across some of her former pals during what turns out to be a purge. In an effort to warn her friends Sonea is caught up and her future becomes dire in the blink of an eye. For Sonea is a natural born magician, something that the Magicians haven’t seen in many many years and some thought didn’t exist at all. For a slum dweller to be a very powerful magician? Unheard of, and for some, unwelcome.

Sonea is traumatized and afraid of what is happening to her. She doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn. Her friend Ceryni (Cery) takes her under his wing. Together they embark on a whirlwind, frightening tour of the seamier side of Imardin in an effort to hide her from the magicians. The magicians of the Guild are looking for Sonea because untrained Magicians can cause great harm to the populace and the city if they don’t learn to control their gift. So the magicians want to get to Sonea before she..explodes, sort of. To either help her learn to control her gift or to bind her gift in such a way that she can never use it. Sonea and Cery don’t know any of this, though . Cery’s father was Thief and Sonea’s family are slum dwellers. Neither of them trust Magicians or Aristos at all.

That’s the basic set up: girl with strong and powerful gift tries to evade the (mostly male) Guild authorities. The end third or so of the book sets up internecine strife within the guild and potentially within Imardin. The book isn’t told in first person, but is primarily from Sonea’s point of view spliced in with one or two of the magicians who are looking for her.

I have to say that my first reaction to this book, other than “Wow, this is fantastic, I have to order to the rest of these” was “this is what I wish Sarah Monette’s book Melusine , link to my review here, was more like.” I can’t quite fully explain that impression except to say that I wish Felix’s personality was more similar to Sonea’s, that he was less damaged or that Mildmay was the protagonist. This book also had echoes of Sharon Shinn’s Thirteen Houses series. Anyhow, I recommend The Magician’s Guild for anyone who likes character centered fantasy with strong female protagonists. I already have the nest two books in the trilogy.


Cover image found on TRudi Canavan's website, link in title above.